


four- no, make that five- nerds in a basement

by lovebeyondmeasure



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bonding, Dungeons and Dragons, Ficlet, Gen, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, One Shot, he's not actually babysitting but y'all get what i mean, the boys have a nice time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 09:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13028361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovebeyondmeasure/pseuds/lovebeyondmeasure
Summary: “We begin,” Mike said, affecting a mysterious tone, “in the town of Leafhaven, where three-”“Four,” Dustin interrupted.“Where four men looking for adventure have met in a tavern,” Mike finished, sounding annoyed. “Hang on, I don’t have a token for him.”--------------------Steve is dragged into the basement by Dustin, to the other boy's chagrin. Things progress from there.





	four- no, make that five- nerds in a basement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [springawake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/springawake/gifts).



“Come on, I promise it’ll be fun,” Dustin said, tugging him towards the door.

“Dustin, I cannot believe,” Steve said, “that I am letting you persuade me to play nerd games with your nerd friends in a _basement._ ”

“Well, it’s not like you were doing anything else, right?” Dustin said with a toothy grin. Steve walked through the door of the Wheeler’s house, feeling a surreal sense of deja vu as he was led, not up the stairs, but down, into the basement where he’d rarely been before.

“You brought _Steve?_ ” he head Lucas cry out. “Dude, what the hell!”

“No, it’s cool!” Dustain protested. “I already showed him how to fill out his character sheet, and he’s gonna be my long-lost brother! So he won’t mess things up! I’ll just show him what to do!”

“Won’t mess things _up? _” said Mike. “I only planned for three players!”__

__“So? He saved our lives!”_ _

__“I’m outta here,” Steve said, turning to go back up the stairs._ _

__“No, uh-uh, you’re staying,” Dustin said, grabbing the back of Steve’s rugby shirt. “And we’re all gonna adventure and have fun.”_ _

__“If he gets to bring Steve, why can’t I bring Max?” Lucas hissed._ _

__“For one, he didn’t ask, which, rude,” Mike said. “And also, Max said she didn’t want to play, remember?”_ _

__“So? Maybe she just said that because you were glaring at her!”_ _

__“El’s not playing either!”_ _

__“That’s not the same thing!”_ _

__“How is it not the same thing?”_ _

__“She can’t be seen in town, for one thing!”_ _

__Steve just stood there, watching the conversational tennis ball lobbed back and forth by two masters of the sport._ _

__“Listen, I can just go,” he said to Dustin. “Really, it’s not like it’s super cool to be hanging out in my ex-girlfriend’s basement with a bunch of middle schoolers, right?”_ _

__“Hey, we’re nearly in high school now,” Dustin said. “And what else, I ask again, would you be doing?”_ _

__“Guys, hey,” ventured Will for the first time. “He helped you guys, in the tunnels, right?”_ _

__The rest turned to look at Will, the smallest, the most fragile looking. He wasn’t one to argue._ _

__“Yeah,” Mike said softly. “He did.”_ _

__“We had to kidnap him to do it, though,” Lucas said, sliding a look at the older boy._ _

__Steve put his hands up in a classic I’m-innocent gesture. “I was just trying to keep you shitheads safe, remember? Not my fault your girlfriend’s brother knocked me out.”_ _

__“She’s-”_ _

__“What I’m saying is,” Will said, raising his voice slightly, “he helped save me. Save all of us. So I vote to let him play. It’s only a one-day session, right?”_ _

__“Yeah,” Mike said unwillingly. “Two, maybe.”_ _

__“Then we’re all playing,” Dustin said, pulling up an extra seat beside his, next to Will._ _

__Steve sat down as the boys prepared their sheets and dice, and Mike set up a board. They all looked at each other, Steve feeling out of place and nervous but, somehow, fond of these young nerds._ _

__“We begin,” Mike said, affecting a mysterious tone, “in the town of Leafhaven, where three-”_ _

__“Four,” Dustin interrupted._ _

__“Where four men looking for adventure have met in a tavern,” Mike finished, sounding annoyed. “Hang on, I don’t have a token for him.”_ _

__“It’s a good thing I brought one, then,” Dustin said, setting one on the table with the air of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat._ _

__“What are you playing, anyway?” Mike asked Steve._ _

__“Better not be another ranger,” Lucas muttered._ _

__“I’m, uh, a thief,” Steve said. “If that’s all right.”_ _

__“Sure, fine,” Mike said, looking down at the board. “Four men meet in a tavern, where a mysterious man comes to their table….”_ _

__——————————_ _

__THREE HOURS LATER_ _

__The die clattered to the tabletop._ _

__“Ten! Direct hit!” Dustin cheered. Will’s hands went up victoriously, and Lucas punched the air._ _

__“The leader falls to the ground, writhing in agony as his flesh withers from his bones. You have defeated the orcs!” Mike cried. Steve high-fived Dustin and Will, and Lucas begrudgingly raised his hand for similar treatment._ _

__“What’s our loot?” Dustin asked eagerly._ _

__“The wizard finds a cloak. It crackles menacingly when he lifts it, but there’s no apparent change when he places it on his shoulders,” Mike intoned. Will nodded. “The ranger finds a knife. In its hilt, a shining emerald.”_ _

__“Cool,” Lucas whispered._ _

__“For the bard, a set of red leather gloves.”_ _

__“Do they do anything?” Dustin asked._ _

__“Not that you can tell,” Mike responded carefully. Dustin looked thoughtful._ _

__“And what about for the thief?”_ _

__“Right, shit, the thief,” Mike said in a normal tone. “This is the kind of thing that-”_ _

__“No, it’s all good, I’ll just take the XP,” Steve said, shaking his head. He hadn’t expected to get so into it, but this was actually kinda fun._ _

__“No, no, you should get some loot too,” Mike said, brow furrowed. “The thief finds- uh-”_ _

__“What about that shield the orc leader was using?” Will offered. “The one that repelled arrows and mage bolts?”_ _

__“Yeah!” Mike said, relieved. “The thief gathers the orc leader’s shield, which is, uh, miraculously untouched by the fight that occurred only minutes earlier.”_ _

__“Alright, cool,” Steve said. “Do I have to carry it around with me everywhere now?”_ _

__“Nah, it can go in the bag of holding, right?”_ _

__“No, it disrupts magic, right? So it can’t. So yeah, uh, you have to carry it around with you now.”_ _

__Steve shrugged, then a thought occurred to him. “Can I wear it on my back, like Captain America?”_ _

__“You read Captain America?” Lucas exclaimed._ _

__“Yeah, I mean, sure,” Steve shrugged, trying to play it off._ _

__“See? I told you guys he was cool!” Dustin exclaimed._ _

__“You can definitely carry it on your back like Captain America,” Mike said._ _

__Steve, looking around the table at the bright eyes of the younger boys, thought for a fleeting moment that this wasn’t just a bad way to spend a rainy Saturday, after all._ _

**Author's Note:**

> For my girl springawake who requested a "steve harrington + shield for a drabble" and got THIS instead. Hahaha, whoops, "drabble," ha...
> 
> Send me prompts any time over @ lovebeyondmeasure.tumblr.com

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [seven nerds in a basement](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13270575) by [lovebeyondmeasure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovebeyondmeasure/pseuds/lovebeyondmeasure)




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